The Canadian Medical Association says doctors are worried that more of their patients are turning to artificial intelligence for health advice — and getting answers that put them in danger.
The national group, which represents physicians across the country, says the trend is especially alarming because so many people don’t have access to a primary care provider, and they’re turning to sources that are easily available and quick.
“It’s alarming because a lot of that information is misinformation, disinformation, and false information. And so that really undermines the trust between patients and their physicians,” said Dr. Margot Burnell, the CMA’s president.
In a new survey commissioned by the CMA and conducted by Abacus Data, the association asked 5,001 Canadians a series of questions about where they get their health information and which sources they consider reliable.
Nearly all of the survey respondents reported that they look for health information online — most often for information about a particular condition or a symptom, or for treatment options.
Sixty-four per cent of survey respondents said they encountered health information online that they later learned was false or misleading — occasionally, often or all the time. Another 29 per cent said that happens rarely.
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Only 27 per cent of respondents said they trust AI to provide accurate health information — but about half said they turn to AI search results from Google or platforms like ChatGPT for health information. Around 38 per cent said they used ChatGPT for treatment advice.
Those who followed the advice they got from AI were five times more likely to say they experienced an adverse reaction or negative effect on their health as a result, said the survey.
Burnell said doctors have long experience with patients who do their own research online before coming to an appointment, but AI platforms provide what appears to be definitive health advice without taking into account a clear picture of an individual’s medical history.
“AI information is different because it’s hard to know who’s generated it, it’s hard to ensure where the validity and the science has come from,” she said.
The survey also suggests that the vast majority of people surveyed think social media companies and the government have a responsibility to address the problem of health misinformation.
Canadians are also worried about the quality of health information coming from the United States, the survey suggests. More than three-quarters of respondents said they’re concerned about increasing misinformation from south of the border.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have made false and misleading claims about the efficacy of vaccines, and have falsely claimed that using Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism.
Burnell said much of the information coming from the Trump administration is not based on science and exposure to misinformation can cause people to doubt other sources of information.
Half of the survey respondents said misinformation has led them to be skeptical of the advice they get from health care providers, and 69 per cent said it’s led them to doubt other online health information.
The Abacus survey was conducted in early November. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.
The CMA has a partnership with The Canadian Press that funds health coverage, but the association has no control over editorial content.
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